Mapping for road safety

For road safety campaigners much of the information we have could be mapped, whether that's speed limits, consultations/schemes or collisions. With such a lot of information, no one maps will show everything. Maps for communicating with the public tend to be the simple, while those to aid decision making often have multiple layers of information.

I've been reviewing various sites to identify what information is already being mapped to identify how it might be used for campaigning (or whether there are maps we're missing).

Police Collision Reports

There are several websites which map the UK wide STATS19 database of police 'accident' reports in different ways. The data is published annually for the proceeding year at in late June (details here):

• crashmap.co.uk A mapping tool based on supported by the ability to buy detailed reports. Can filter by severity, casualty type and year and includes information explaining the definitions used.
• map.itoworld.com/see-me-save-me [HGV, cyclist & pedestrian, KSIs] displays the STATS19 data from 2000-2010 with the casualty's age, gender and the year of the accident shown graphically. Discontinued
• collisionmap.uk a basic map which displays limited information and can only filter by casualty severity.
• cyclestreets (see below) maps all road users and has the full information.

Going beyond Police reports

The following websites map other data related to road safety:

• collideoscope.org.uk/ [cycling, incidents, UK] Collisions and near misses, plus the ability for users to add their own experiences. Also includes STATS19 record information. MySociety/Barts Charitys Safe Cycling Appeal initiative.
• Fill That Hole [Cycling UK / CTC, road defects, UK] A map showing reported road defects with indicators for whether the issue has been fixed or not.
• cycling-intelligence.com [cycling, KSIs, London]  Cyclist fatalities in London updated regularly and includes some information and links. The map goes back to 2006, although they say the data is not complete for the early years.
• beyondthekerb.org.uk/casebook [cyclists, KSIs, UK, 2015-2016] Details, map and links to press reports.
• cycleinjury.co.uk/map STATS19 map combined with information from Levenes personal injury lawyers.
• Cyclestreets [cycling, UK]  In addition to mapping the STATS19 information with detailed search/filtering it has a mapping tool for campaigns, consultations and issues used by cycling groups around the UK. Allows for issues to be identified and discussed. Issues in London can be seen on the LCC website.
• Give a beep [cycling, London] is a scheme where cyclists are given a button on the handlebars which registers the time and location every time it is pressed. The intention is that users press it every time they feel less safe and this builds up a map of the problem locations around the city for use as a campaigning tool.
• Camden Cyclists have produced a similar list of maps including their own analysis of collisions in Camden, plus maps for traffic flows, cycling and mapping specific to London.
• alexinthecities.co.uk - Alex has produced several really useful maps including a map of DfT traffic counts, a list of sites mapping census data and a lot of more London specific maps. He also has information about producing maps using Google Fusion tables. 
• Please let me know if there are any I have missed

Lists of information

There are also several websites listing incidents and details:

• twowheelsandbeyond.blogspot.co.uk [cycling, KSIs, UK]  Cyclist obituaries listed from around 2000-2012.
• visionzerolondon.wordpress.com [cyclists and pedestrians, KSIs, London] Names where known, links and some photos 2014+
• lcc.org.uk/pages/news is the blog for London Cycling Campaign. Articles about specific locations are tagged and can be viewed on a map. An RSS feed of the data is available.
• The campaign group See Me Save Me are collecting reports of collisions and fatalities involving HGVs and are planning to publish this in the future.
• Again, please let me know if there are any I should add.

Conclusions

There is a lot of good mapping being done on the STATS19 data, but the story behind the data (news reports, people's experiences, etc.) are not generally being mapped. There are several initiatives mapping cycling in London but this is quite fragmented.

Creating maps with more detailed information and analysis could be useful to make the case for action to be taken at a particular junction, or to brief journalists following incidents, so would be a useful tool.

For cycling, Cyclestreets seems to be the main focus, however the aim would be to have a UK wide system which covered all incidents with different organisations able to filter for the content relevant to their campaigning.